Art museums are institutions or buildings where objects of aesthetic value are preserved and displayed. Functions of the art museum include acquiring, conserving, and exhibiting works of art; providing art education for the general public; and conducting art historical research.

Art museums may be classified into two major categories: public museums, administered directly by the national or local government; and private museums, under the authority of a board of trustees, which is composed of private citizens and a director chosen by the board. In addition, art museums are of two basic types: the general museum, which presents a broad range of works from early times to the present, and the specialized museum or gallery, in which the collection is restricted to the works of a single artist or is concentrated on a particular type of art, historical period, or geographical area.

The personnel of large museums generally includes a professional staff composed of administrators, curators, conservators, a registrar, librarian, and specialists in education. In the past the art museum functioned principally as a storehouse of objects, but in recent years its social and educational role has been greatly expanded. Increasingly, large metropolitan art museums seek to serve the interests of the national or local community in which they are located. In addition to exhibiting objects in their own collections, many museums develop special temporary or "traveling" exhibitions that are later displayed in other institutions. They also organize guided tours of the collections, publish catalogs and bulletins, sponsor lectures, and provide educational facilities--libraries, study galleries, and art classes--for students.

Historical Development

The word museum is derived from the ancient Greek name for the temple of the Muses, the patron goddesses of the arts. The term was originally used to refer to institutions of advanced learning. It did not assume its present meaning until the Renaissance, when the first great collections of art were formed in Italy, the result of a burgeoning desire for knowledge of the past, especially classical antiquity. The impulse to collect art soon passed to princes, nobles, and clergy throughout Europe.

Art collectors began not only to acquire ancient Greek and Roman art objects and relics of the Middle Ages but also to patronize works by contemporary artists. These collections became, in some cases, the foundations of today's most famous museums. For example, the powerful \TMedici\t family of Florence amassed a vast collection of ancient and modern works of art that formed the basis of, among other museum collections, the Uffizi Gallery, one of the richest repositories of art in the world. Hundreds of private collections were formed throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, as in the Renaissance period, almost all collections were private, and public access to them was extremely limited. A notable exception was the collection of Elias Ashmole in England, which became (1683) the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the first university museum. Seventy years later, the collection of Sir Hans Sloane was bequeathed to the nation, resulting in the establishment of the first museum organized as a public institution, the British Museum.

Beginning in the late 18th century, a number of public art museums were founded, formed principally of royal or princely collections that either came under public control as the result of political changes or were voluntarily donated to the nation. The principle of public control over art and art collections was firmly established in France during the Revolution, when the royal collection was nationalized (1793) and opened to the public as the Louvre Museum. Inspired by the creation of the Louvre, King Frederick William III of Prussia declared his collection public in 1797, leading to the establishment of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin. In 1809 the Brera Picture Gallery, Milan (originally the collection of the Accademia di Belle Arti), was opened to the public. The National Gallery, London, one of the few major European museums not originating from a royal collection, was founded in 1824. In 1852 the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, containing the tsar's private art collection, was opened to public view on a regular basis.

In the second half of the 19th century, a number of specialized museums were created in Europe, such as the Bavarian National Museum (1855), Munich, devoted almost exclusively to the fine and applied arts of South Germany, and the Museum of Ornamental Art, London (1852), renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899, originally established to display and encourage modern handicrafts. The first museums to be established as public institutions in the United States were the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1870), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City (1872), followed (1879) by the Art Institute of Chicago, which originated as an art school and museum.

Since 1900 major trends in art museums have included the attempted reform and expansion of large institutions and the creation of a multitude of specialized museums, many of which are devoted to modern art. In recent years a number of the world's largest museums have attempted to reduce the size and refine the quality of their collections by selling less important works of art and concentrating available funds on acquiring works of greater artistic merit or historical significance. Some have also embarked on vast programs of expansion, such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., which opened (1978) a new wing designed by I. M. Pei. Major museums devoted entirely to modern art include the Museum of Modern Art, New York City (1929); the Gallery of the Twentieth Century, West Berlin (1949); and most recently, the Beaubourg, Paris (1977). Also known as the Pompidou Center, it houses not only the National Museum of Modern Art but also an institute devoted to music, acoustics, and film, in addition to video and slide archives. Two other types of museums are distinct creations of the 20th century: the open-air museum, or sculpture garden, and the children's museum.

Major Art Museums of the World

Austria.

In Vienna the \TAlbertina\t contains the world's largest collection of European prints and drawings from the 15th to the 20th century; the Kunsthistorisches Museum includes a renowned collection of Venetian, Mannerist, and baroque paintings assembled by the Habsburgs.

Britain.

In London the \TBritish Museum\t is the famed repository of rare treasures from European, African, and Asian antiquity; the \TNational Gallery\t contains European paintings from the 13th to the 19th century; the \TTate Gallery\t is devoted principally to British painting from the 16th century to the present; and the \TVictoria and Albert Museum\t is noted for its extensive Western and non-Western collections of decorative and applied arts. The Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) possesses one of the world's finest collections of old masters' drawings.

Canada.

The National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa) contains, in addition to European works and contemporary American art, the world's largest collection of Canadian painting and sculpture. The \TRoyal Ontario Museum\t (Toronto) is noted for its exceptional collections of Chinese art, medieval and Renaissance decorative objects, and North American Indian art.

Egypt.

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, possesses the richest collection of ancient Egyptian art in the world, including many treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamen.

France.

Major museums in Paris include the Cluny Museum, devoted to the minor arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance; the Jeu de Paume, a gallery of 19th-century impressionist paintings; the \TLouvre\t Museum, with holdings in the arts of all periods; and the Pompidou Center (the \TBeaubourg\t), which displays contemporary arts and the collection of the former Museum of Modern Art.

Germany, East.

The Pergamum Museum (East Berlin) contains Oriental and classical antiquities, including the famous Pergamum Altar of Zeus. The \TDresden State Art Collections\t is noted for its old masters' paintings and exceptional northern European decorative arts and porcelains.

Germany, West.

In West Berlin, the Charlottenburg Palace houses Egyptian and Greco-Roman antiquities; the Dahlem Museum contains an important collection of old masters' paintings. In Munich are the Alte Pinakothek, with European paintings from the Middle Ages to 1800, and the Neue Pinakothek, with European paintings of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Greece.

The National Archaeological Museum (Athens) contains ancient Greek sculptures, ceramics, and other objects from Neolithic times to the Hellenistic period.

India.

The Indian Museum (Calcutta) houses Indian painting, sculpture, and decorative objects from the prehistoric through the Mogul periods. The National Museum of India (New Delhi) contains an important collection of Indian miniature paintings and drawings.

Iran.

The Tehran Museum houses Persian antiquities, miniature paintings, and many Iranian national treasures.

Italy.

In Florence the \TUffizi\t GALLERY is noted for its many masterpieces of Italian and Flemish painting. The Brera Picture Gallery (Milan) contains paintings and drawings of the 14th to 19th centuries. In Rome the Capitoline Museum and the National Museum of Rome contain important collections of antique sculpture. The \TVatican museums and galleries\t (Vatican City) include collections of Etruscan, Egyptian, Early Christian, and Renaissance art. The Accademia of Fine Arts (Venice) houses an outstanding collection of Venetian paintings.

Japan.

In Nara the National Museum and the Shosoin are noted for their collections of early Chinese and Japanese art, in particular, Buddhist paintings and sculpture. The Tokyo National Museum contains Japanese and Chinese art of all periods.

Mexico.

In Mexico City the Museum of Modern Art houses the works of modern Mexican painters; the National Museum of Anthropology contains extensive pre-Columbian art.

Netherlands.

In Amsterdam the \TRijksmuseum\t contains the largest collection of paintings by Dutch masters in the world; the Stedelijk possesses an outstanding collection of modern European and American art.

Pakistan.

The Lahore Museum (Lahore) possesses the largest collection of Greco-Buddhist art in the world. The National Museum of Pakistan (Karachi) contains sculptures and objects from prehistoric times to the late Mogul period.

Spain.

The \TPrado\t Museum (Madrid) possesses a preeminent collection of Spanish paintings, including most of the major works of Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Goya. The Escorial, a Spanish Renaissance monastery and palace in New Castile, near Madrid, houses an important collection of paintings by Renaissance and baroque masters.

Taiwan.

The extensive holdings of the National Palace Museum (Taipei) include the finest collection of Chinese paintings and porcelains in the world.

Turkey.

The \TTopkapi Palace Museum\t (Istanbul) contains the imperial collection of jewels, Islamic manuscripts, and ceramics from around the world.

\TUSSR\t.

The \THermitage Museum\t (Leningrad) houses a renowned collection of Scythian gold objects from the Asian steppes, the former collections of the tsar, and other European and Russian works. The Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) contains an extensive collection of Russian icons and works by 19th- and 20th-century Russian painters.

United States.

The \TMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston\t, is especially noted for its collections of Asian art and colonial American painting. The Art Institute of Chicago (see \TChicago, Art Institute of\t) contains an outstanding collection of 19th- and 20th-century European paintings. The \TCleveland Museum of Art\t (Cleveland, Ohio) is noted for its Oriental collection and for its exceptional education department, which has become a model for museums around the world. The \TDetroit Institute of Arts\t contains important collections of early Flemish painting, American art, and works by the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. The varied collection of the Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, Tex.) ranges from ancient African, Asian, and pre-Columbian American sculpture to important European painting. In the collection of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas City, Mo.) are rare examples of early Chinese art. The \TLos Angeles County Museum of Art\t has notable collections of both Western and non-Western art from ancient times to the present. The \TGetty Museum\t (Malibu, Calif.) houses the collection of John Paul Getty--principally classical antiquities, 18th-century French furniture and decorative arts, and baroque paintings--in a replica of a villa in Herculaneum.

In New York City, the major center of public art museums in the United States, the \TBrooklyn Museum\t is particularly noteworthy for its Egyptian collection, one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere, and its American paintings, which date from the colonial period to the present.

The \TCooper-Hewitt Museum\t, under the administration of the Smithsonian Institution, is one of the world's largest repositories of decorative arts and design. The \TFrick Collection\t houses a choice collection of European paintings from the 14th to the 19th century. The \TGuggenheim Museum\t is devoted to late 19th- and 20th-century art. The \TMetropolitan Museum of Art\t, one of the world's leading museums, contains major holdings in nearly every area of world art, including an extensive medieval collection housed in the \TCloisters\t. The \TMuseum of Modern Art\t contains the world's most comprehensive collection of modern European and American art. The collection of the \TWhitney Museum of American Art\t ranges from 19th-century works to the latest developments in avant-garde art in America. Major museums in Washington, D.C., include the \TFreer\t GALLERY, with an important collection of Far Eastern art and numerous works by James McNeill Whistler. The \THirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden\t is devoted to 19th- and 20th-century works of art, with a special emphasis on sculpture displayed outdoors; and the \TNational Gallery of Art\t has perhaps the most extensive collection of European painting and sculpture in the United States. \TWilliam\t OLANDER

Bibliography: Alexander, Eugenie, Museums and How to Use Them (1974); American Association of Museums, Museum News (monthly) and Official Museum Directory (annual); Burcaw, G. Ellis, Introduction to Museum Work (1975); Bazin, Germain, The Museum Age (1967); Burt, Nathaniel, Palaces for the People: A Social History of the American Art Museum (1977); Finlay, Ian, Priceless Heritage: The Future of Museums (1977); Katz, Herbert and Marjorie, Museums, U.S.A. (1965); Key, Archibald F., Beyond Four Walls: The Origin and Development of Canadian Museums (1973); Lerman, Leo, The Museum: One Hundred Years and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1969); O'Doherty, Brian, ed., Museums in Crisis (1972); Ripley, S. Dillon, The Sacred Grove (1969; repr. 1978); Spaeth, Eloise, American Art Museums: An Introduction to Looking, 3d ed. (1975); \TUNESCO\t, Museums, Imagination, and Education (1973); Wasserman, Paul, Museum Media: A Biennial Directory and Index of Publications and Audiovisuals Available from U.S. and Canadian Institutions (1973); Whitehill, Walter M., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: A Centennial History, 2 vols. (1970).

See also: \Tart collectors and patrons\t.